The next morning was not like the rest. He woke up to Jooheon's finger brushing his cheek. "Wake up, kitty." Changkyun opened his eyes a crack. "You look like a kitty when you sleep. I wish I didn't have to wake you up 'cause it's so cute." He said the last part in a squeaky voice and tapped a finger on Changkyun's nose.

"Th–thanks for waking me up."

"No problem. Uh, do you want me to bring you breakfast?"

Neither of them wanted to say it, but they both knew that the other boys would be uncomfortable if Changkyun ate with them. He had never actually been woken up early enough to have breakfast, and everyone seemed use to it. It would be safest to eat alone in his room.

"Yes, please. Just a little, though."

Jooheon gave a thumbs up. Waiting, Changkyun ran his fingers around the sensitive flesh of his hips. "Here ya go, kitty!" Jooheon said loudly. The youngest hadn't even heard the boy walk over and he almost jumped off the bed out of fear.

"Thank you!" he yelped.

Jooheon put the plate on Changkyun's bed and climbed up the ladder. "I'm gonna sit with you, if that's okay." Leaning against the wall, he took out his phone to play a game while Changkyun ate.

Heavy footsteps could be heard down the hall, and soon Minhyuk came into the room. He noticed the two on the bed, but turned away quickly.

"Hi, Minhyuk," Jooheon greeted.

Minhyuk stood still for a moment before turning to face Changkyun again. "I–I said something terrible last night." The boy already had tears streaming down his face. "I would h–hate it if I was responsible for your d–d–death all because I was stupid and mad and I wanted to teach you a lesson...e–even though you've done nothing wrong!"

He reached a hand up to wipe his tear stained cheeks and, with his free hand, grabbed onto Changkyun's wrist. "I h–hate it when I hate people, so I don't want to hate you any more. I'm tired of making sure I only say mean things when, really, I just...want someone to cuddle with, and since you're the youngest in this group now, I can't resist it any longer, and...and..."

Changkyun Minhyuk's hand (which still had a death grip on his wrist). "It's okay. I know why you were mad at me."

"But I'm not even mad anymore! I'm just being mean, and it's too hard on me...on you." Minhyuk's tears were rushing out in waterfalls, and Changkyun could feel his own eyes beginning to burn. "I'm sorry!" he managed to squeak.

"Thank you."

It took a while to calm Minhyuk down. Fifteen minutes had passed and the boy was still gasping for air and wiping the few tears that continued to fall. Jooheon snuck into the bathroom a few times to get a cold washcloth, although all three knew that nothing would put down the swelling in his red eyes.

A while later Kihyun called, "Come on, it's time to leave."

Changkyun could tell that Minhyuk was embarrassed, either because of his disheveled appearance or out of fear that the other boys heard him cry. Minhyuk wrapped an arm around the youngest’s waist, who in turn hissed in pain.

"Something wrong? I–I'm sorry." Thinking that he had simply made the other uncomfortable, Minhyuk pulled his arm away.

"No, you're fine. My muscles hurt from yesterday, that's all." He pulled Minhyuk's arm over his shoulder. "This is better."

Minhyuk rustled Changkyun's hair and mumbled something about the youngest being a baby, but Changkyun wasn't listening.

He was thinking about the fresh cuts that marred his sides. About the degrading words from the night before; then about the apology. The boy who had bullied him until he broke was now someone who wanted to consider him a friend. Of course, he would be his friend and accept his apology, but the damage was done.

He pulled away from Minhyuk when they entered the living room. The others were already waiting, backpacks and water bottles in hand.

"We're going to the gym today," Shownu announced, "instead of dance practice. I talked to Manager about yesterday, and he said that we could all use a workout to improve our muscles and stamina and such."

Wonho rolled his eyes. "Like the rest of us need to work out." He shot an angry look towards Changkyun.

Without another word, they were on their way to the gym. Changkyun ended up in the backseat sandwiched between Minhyuk and Jooheon. They talked as if they were old friends and ignored the other members' scowls.

The gym seemed like a fairly welcoming place. The lady at the front desk was nice, and she even lead them to the weight lifting area. Only a few men were lifting and the women were all on treadmills and such. The group had no trouble, and Changkyun was beginning to like working out.

That is, he liked it until Wonho ordered, "Hey, kid, go use the real weights like a real man. The machines are nothing."

Changkyun nodded slowly and followed Wonho to the bench press. He watched in shame as the older removed the twenty pound weights on each end. "I think the pole alone is too heavy for you. Do you ever work out?"

The younger didn't answer and decided to get it over with. To his embarrassment, lifting the pole was terribly difficult and he almost dropped it onto his chest. It terrified him, to say the least, and his legs flailed as he tried to regain balance. Wonho crossed his arms and looked away as if he hadn't seen his struggle. Jooheon yelped and put the weight back onto the rack.

Then, Changkyun watched in horror as Jooheon pulled down the end of his shirt. Considering the look of surprise on his face, Changkyun concluded that the boy had seen the thing that he hadn't wanted to show any of the group.

Wonho sighed and rubbed his temples. "I don't want to do this." With that, he walked away.

Wonho probably saw, too. He would have stayed, but he probably didn't want to get involved in the youngest's personal life.

"C–can you spot for me?" Changkyun asked timidly. He hoped that he could get Jooheon's mind away from that.

However, the other boy was not going to completely ignore anything. "One round, and then we need to talk."

"Okay.” Not okay.

For once, Changkyun wished that his workout had lasted longer. Jooheon carefully put the weight onto the rack and helped Changkyun up. "Bathroom?"

The youngest nodded and allowed himself to be dragged behind the closed doors of the restroom. "Is there something you should tell me?" Jooheon asked after a stretch of silence.

Changkyun shook his head. I don't need to tell you anything. Nevertheless, tears filled his eyes and he managed to say, "I’ve been clean for three years. Really.”

Jooheon was too smart for his own good. “Changkyunnie, I think I saw fresh cuts.” He waited, but got no response. “Did you start again?”